SAN JOSE — Stan Lee took the Silicon Valley Comic Con stage for the last day of the weekend-long event, and made a good case for more than his regular one-scene cameo in the next Marvel movie.

“Robert Downey Jr., I call him Bob. You call him Robert, but we’re like this,” Lee said of the “Iron Man” actor, sticking two fingers together. “I give him what pointers I can, but he has to learn to (act) for himself. It’s a tough world out there. Hey, if you’re listening, just kidding … Bob.”

Lee is 93 years old, and has never been in a Marvel movie for more than a minute. But the co-creator of Thor, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man and the X-Men is still arguably the most entertaining draw at pop culture conventions. The San Jose Convention Center big room that seats 3,200 — almost as much as the Fillmore Auditorium and Warfield put together — was packed for a simple Q&A on Sunday, March 20, featuring queries from one awestruck fan after the other.

One of the first in line, a fan in a “Back to the Future” T-shirt asked Lee what he would be doing if he didn’t create comics.

“I love doing these panels so much. Maybe I would have become a professional panel-doer,” Lee deadpanned. “If I hadn’t gotten into comics I think I might have been some sort of writer. And I might have tried to be an actor, because my favorite person, besides myself, was Errol Flynn.”

Stand-up comedy might have worked as well. Even in his 10th decade on this planet, Lee is as razor sharp as any Punch Line headliner. The questions were good, but Lee’s tangents and digressions were even better.

Here’s Lee on why you’ve been saying the words “comic book” wrong all these years:

“It should only be one word. A ‘comicbook,’” Lee told the crowd, explaining that the two-word version implies just a book with comics, not a complex artistic experience. “It’s like nothing else in the whole world. It’s a ‘comicbook.’ Not a ‘comic book.’ I hope all of you, when this panel is over, I hope you know the address of your congressman …”

Lee keeps saying whatever convention he’s currently doing will be the last. His assistant Max Anderson says every summer Lee tells him, “I’m done. No more.” And every January, Lee asks, “So what do we have lined up?”

Asked by one fan why he keeps coming, Lee joked that his motivation was “greed,” before showing a little-seen serious side.

“I love conventions because I love the fans. I love seeing your enthusiasm,” Lee told the Silicon Valley Comic Con crowd. “I love seeing that every year there are more and more. That you used to be young fans, and now you’re older. … Once you become a fan you’re in it forever. It’s like you’re trapped.”